Best way to utilise multiple domains of same topic?

[denchomsky]

As we domainers have a habit of buying up variations of a domain name, I was wondering what people thought of the best way to utilise/benefit from this in a development scenario.

Eg:

I have built a new site using my primary domain name, the one that is most relevant to the content (in general), and that will hopefully benefit me best SEO wise as it is more generic than the others, but I also have other related domain names, some that have higher local exacts than the primary one but are more item specific.

First thought is to duplicate the content on the main site that is related to the more specific url, creating a new site that has only that specfic content from the main site.
There are of course risks of being penalised by google for doing this, though I have read only one site would be listed in search results, that is the penalty, but is that such a bad thing if the relevant content was being served?

The only other thing is redirects, but this will only benefit for type-in traffic, not search traffic, and I would imagine even for a high exacts term, this is very low.

So I am thinking, from a development view is it really worth owning multiple variations of a name, other than to protect your brand, and are there any real SEO benefits in owning multiple variations of names?

 

[fish]

from a SEO POV you will be creating lots of works for yourself for little (?) return by setting up dupe sites and as you point out are by doing so increasing the inherent risk of getting slapped.

I think a lot of folk secure related domains to protect their primary site (and forward them to the main one). Not a bad strategy since anyone with deep pockets could encroach on your home ground.

 

[Blossom]

I wouldn't duplicate the content...but if the URLs are different enough then you could get a few pages up there as a mini site and get some back links and advertising. Alternatively, you could do some content spinning if you were careful.

Say you own 5 sites in the same area. You comment on dofollow blogs, submit to some ok free directories, and do a bit of link swapping/negotiation with other people. Then duplicate the link building across all four sites. Wouldn't be difficult to get them to a PR3 over time without much effort. Then you have 4 PR3 links pointing at your main site as well as adsense and paid link potential on each individual site.

You could also dominate the top 5 search results for your term(s) fairly easily, assuming they weren't too competitive. And if you find out one's ranking better than expected, you can do more work around it.

But I guess it all depends on how much time you have, the names, and the niche...

 

[Sussexite]

You could have a 2 pronged approach.

1. A conventional low risk site
2. A site where you try to build more unusual content in a an attempt to earn lots of links. It may work - benefiting both sites. If it doesn't you can let it crash and burn without too much damage to site #1.

 

[willbon]

I totally agree with the 'protectionism' of owning the different variations and often extensions to a name... personally I use an alias if there only two domain names, but if more, I host one normally then host another with a code 301 then alias the others on the fwd'd domain name. On a sales site I must have over 200 alias' but fear no G reprisals as they're all forwarded on the base domain's 301.

The point about G logging one site and not another due to the duplicate text is true and I find G logs the .com before the .co.uk

Another interesting point would be whether a different IP address for each domain would make a difference? ..

Another way I've found of spreading domain names within the same vicinity is to use the domain in a different page of the website... so the original domain has homepage and some pages, but some links go to a different URL... with pages that look like the original site... so getting maximum exposure.

 

[denchomsky]

Thanks, some interesting suggestions.

I think building some minisites with the other high exact related domains with some unique content linking back to the original site is a good idea, as is having some links on the main site linking to another site on another related domain with the same design, and then linking back again.

food for thought

 

[jim1]

Thanks, some interesting suggestions.

I think building some minisites with the other high exact related domains with some unique content linking back to the original site is a good idea, as is having some links on the main site linking to another site on another related domain with the same design, and then linking back again.

food for thought

I would be careful linking the sites to each other, if the ips and Whois all point to you.

On a small scale google might not spot this straight away but your competors might and file a report to big g.

Ok back links to your site out of you control can't harm your site, but links you create on your site to your other sites can.

Especially if your sites don't have many links, the pattern is all to easy to see.

So good content with useful articles on your topic, changing up the thyme of the articles on each site.

So you have a few site in the same niche, but if all are useful to the end user with different content.

If the sites are in a non competitive field then its not so hard, or such a bad idea.